


five times the world was against them + one time it wasn't

by clairehelene



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff and Crack, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 17:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16068305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairehelene/pseuds/clairehelene
Summary: having a perfect date is harder than it sounds.





	five times the world was against them + one time it wasn't

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AGeekOfArt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AGeekOfArt/gifts).



> there's no particular reason why i'm gifting this to you except for the fact that i felt like it and everyone needs soonseok in their life. thanks for hyping up the superior ship with me 24/7 <3

they met in high school, a few weeks before soonyoung’s graduation. they both had been at one of choi seungcheol’s parties, and when soonyoung had heard seokmin singing at a karaoke battle against some kid called seungkwan, he was positive he had seen an angel.

they had exchanged numbers that evening, and ever since, had been texting each other non-stop. soonyoung  started teaching at a local dance studio while seokmin began his last year of high school.

seokmin had developed a crush on soonyoung, he realised after a long time of denial, and he missed seeing soonyoung’s flashing smile in the hallway whenever he spotted the younger. they had met up almost every break to spend time together, and seokmin’s heart ached when he remembered that he’d never be able to do so again. sure, they had promised each other to meet up as often as possible, but soonyoung was busy with his new job and seokmin didn’t want to be the reason why he lost said job.

 

i.)

a couple weeks into the school year and seokmin found himself more often in the library than not. he made sure to complain to soonyoung as often as possible, and he shouldn’t have been that surprised when he saw soonyoung suddenly standing in front of him, holding two bags of mcdonald’s take-out in his hands.

“’sup,” he greeted the speechless seokmin and sat down in the seat next to him.

“hi,” seokmin breathed, a flush spreading across his cheeks. he was suddenly very aware of his physical appearance; his hair hadn’t been washed in ages, his sweater was worn at the sleeves where he’d chew on when he got too stressed.

“what are you studying for?” soonyoung asked and nodded at the multiple sheets of notes spread out in front of seokmin.

“uh, history i think? or chemistry, i don’t remember,” seokmin answered with furrowed brows and he tried to decipher his own hand-writing on the papers.

soonyoung shook his head and took the pencil from seokmin’s clammy hands. “you’ve been over-working yourself, minnie,” he said. “here, you need to eat something.”

seokmin thanked the gods when he looked into the paper bag soonyoung handed him and saw a big portion of fries and three cheeseburgers. he dug right in, ignoring soonyoung’s chuckle as he managed to smear mayonnaise on his cheek.

“how’s the dancing?” seokmin asked between bites, school completely forgotten now.

“it’s really great! the payment could be better, but it’s so awesome to work with the little kids and teach them my choreographies.” soonyoung practically beamed as he started talking about his class of a handful of kids and seokmin had a hard time not cooing at the sight.

soonyoung himself started eating his own big mac, and seokmin moved his hand to wipe off a few crumbs which had collected at the corner of his mouth. the older grinned at him, making the other swallow thickly and quickly look away.

they finished their food in no time and seokmin briefly wondered when was the last time he had eaten such amazing food – but then again, any food would have tasted fantastic in his current state.

seokmin went back to studying for his upcoming chemistry test, and soonyoung had obviously made it his own mission to make the younger flustered and distract him from his work by watching him intensely, head resting on his palm.

“would you stop doing that?” seokmin asked after a while, trying to hide his grin.

“doing what?” soonyoung asked innocently and fluttered his eyelashes at him.

“you’re distracting me from my work, soonie. it’s unfair.”

soonyoung pretended to be confused and seokmin was convinced he was the devil in human form. “but i’m just sitting here, i’m not even saying anything.”

“you’re staring, and that’s what’s distracting me,” the younger explained.

“you find me distracting, don’t you, seokmin?”

seokmin saw how soonyoung had started to lean in exceptionally close. he licked his lips and copied his actions, slowly but surely approaching to soonyoung’s face. “hm, no, i don’t...,” he mumbled.

at this point, he was able to count every of soonyoung’s lashes and his eyes flickered over his moles dotted over his face. their faces were only mere millimetres apart, their hearts beating in their chests.

that was until the old librarian suddenly decided it was a good idea to pay a visit to the furthest shelves, in the back of the giant library, and she almost choked as she saw the two boys (almost) locking lips. the two could still hear her shrill voice ringing in their ears when they sprinted out of the building, both of them nearly tripping over their shoelaces.

they came to halt a good hundred metres away from the library, both panting but laughing as they recited what just had happened to them.

“she really had to go and ruin our study date like that, huh?” seokmin asked, still laughing, not realising quick enough what he had just said. his eyes widened and he looked at soonyoung with a scared expression.

but the other just agreed, “yeah, she really had to.” and then he added, “guess that means i’ll have to take you on a proper date then.”

seokmin released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding and nodded eagerly. they settled on a simple picnic date near han river, splitting up on things they’d bring with them.

 

ii.)

seokmin was even more giddy in school because he couldn’t stop thinking about their almost-kiss and the fact that they’d have an actual date soon. falling asleep the night before was even harder, and he briefly wondered if he had enough concealer to cover up his eye bags, before he fell into a deep slumber.

 

///

 

“i made sandwiches,” soonyoung announced proudly after they separated from their hug.

he pulled a chequered blanket out of his bag and spread it out on the ground. they pulled off their shoes – seokmin giggled when he saw soonyoung’s differently coloured socks – and made themselves comfortable on the blanket.

seokmin opened his own bag and proudly showed the other his fruit and vegetable skewers that he had made himself the evening before. a large bottle of coke followed suit and when he saw soonyoung’s sandwiches, his mouth watered.

to be fair, looks could be deceiving, and the sandwiches tasted... interesting. but he knew soonyoung had put great effort into making them, as he told him for almost ten minutes, so he decided not to mention that oranges and boiled eggs didn’t go well together.

they sat there for almost an hour, eating and chatting about all kinds of things. seokmin talking about lonely he was without soonyoung, and soonyoung talking about how he had found an apartment closer to the dance studio where he would move into as soon as possible. and while talking, seokmin didn’t even mind the taste of soonyoung’s food – this time it was a cucumber and jam sandwich – and before he realised, his stomach ached, either from how full he was or from the food itself.

and despite his obvious discomfort, soonyoung told him to eat the last cherry tomato of his skewer. he justified it with him having to function as a role model now, and he couldn’t afford gaining even more weight.

“tomatoes don’t even make you fat,” seokmin argued, rubbing his hurting middle, hoping it’d lessen the pain at least a bit.

“come on, quit being a baby and open up. like at the dentist,” soonyoung made a drawn-out ‘ah’ sound but seokmin refused nonetheless and turned his head away.

the older found himself forced to pry seokmin’s mouth open with the tomato and forcing it between his teeth. seokmin opened his mouth, breathing in to complain, when he inhaled the red thing, almost choking on it.

soonyoung panicked and began slapping seokmin’s back, trying to help him to breathe normally as he apologised the entire time to poor seokmin. his face had gone red and he ended up spitting out the tomato into soonyoung’s hand, breathing heavily, his forehead sweaty.

“i hoped i’d be choking on something else tonight,” seokmin admitted shyly and wiped his mouth on a tissue.

now it was soonyoung’s turn to cough and seokmin laughed at him.

“let’s go watch a movie at the cinema the next time. i bet there can’t go anything wrong,” seokmin said after a while and soonyoung nodded.

“there’s this new thriller movie out, i’m sure it’s gonna be great.”

 

iii.)

they met up in front of the cinema almost twenty minutes earlier, so they’d have a better chance of getting the best seats and not having to stand in queue for popcorn for fifteen minutes.

soonyoung promised to pay, and when it was his turn at the counter, the salesperson asked them for their id’s. soonyoung didn’t mind, he was already eighteen years old, but seokmin was only seventeen.

“i’m sorry, but you’re too young to watch the film,” the man told seokmin who immediately looked at soonyoung with a helpless expression.

“but – but i’m already an adult, can’t i-,“ soonyoung started.

“you’re not his brother, are you?” the vendor interrupted.

“no, but i’m his boyf-“

“sorry, no can do, man. i gotta stick to the rules or they’ll fire me,” he told them and he genuinely looked sorry.

“can’t you make an exception, only once? seokmin looks older than seventeen anyways,” soonyoung insisted, disappointed when he saw the other shake his head.

so that’s how they ended up leaving the cinema again, earning weird looks from other customers.

“i’m so sorry about this, minnie. i should have done my research-“

seokmin grabbed soonyoung’s hand to silence him. “look, you don’t need to apologise. you couldn’t have known this guy would be so stubborn, okay? we’ll just watch it some other time, how does that sound?”

 

iv.)

“a new bowling alley opened near your school,” soonyoung greeted seokmin as he picked him up from school. “wanna go together? you still owe me a proper date.”

“what do you mean _i_ owe _you_? you were the one who almost killed me and forgot i was a minor,” seokmin protested. he opened the door to soonyoung’s mum’s car and plopped down on the passenger seat.

“well, if you put it that way,” soonyoung mumbled and started the engine. “but seriously, what do you think?”

“only if you promise not to laugh at me,” seokmin said shyly and soonyoung laughed, telling him that he was probably even worse at bowling himself.

 

///

 

they ended up going to the bowling centre two weeks later. seokmin’s hands were shaking as he took the shoes from the employee and it took him three attempts to properly tie them.

“are you nervous?” soonyoung asked, as attentive as ever. “you don’t have to be.”

“but what if i’m gonna embarrass myself in front of everyone here, or worse, in front of you?” seokmin whined and hid his face in his hands in embarrassment.

soonyoung laughed loudly and rubbed the younger’s shoulder. “i’m sure you won’t. bet you’re gonna be better than me. did you know that i never ever scored a strike?”

“you didn’t?” seokmin asked and soonyoung shook his head. “wow, you really are bad then.”

with regained confidence, seokmin threw the first ball and even though it landed in a gutter, he couldn’t stop smiling. he knew it didn’t matter how good or bad their scores would turn out to be, it was only important to spend time with each other.

a while later, after a couple strikes and even more gutter balls, soonyoung suddenly nudged seokmin’s arm.

“aren’t those your friends?” he asked.

seokmin looked into the direction soonyoung was pointing to and he immediately recognised kim mingyu’s tall frame and seungkwan’s loud voice. they were accompanied by other people and judging by soonyoung’s face, he must have known them.

they couldn’t hide from them, and one of them, who introduced himself as jeonghan, spotted the couple and walked over to them. “it’s a small world, huh?” he asked. “nice to see you two, what are you doing here?”

“we’re here to bowl,” soonyoung deadpanned.

seokmin didn’t have it in him to send his and soonyoung’s friends away, so he had to suck it up and let them ruin his date. they did have a great time but seokmin was a little bit selfish when it came to soonyoung because he wanted him all for himself.

 

v.)

“guess who’s got a job?” seokmin asked smiling as soon as soonyoung had picked up his phone.

“ _hm, let me guess, you?_ ” he chuckled. “ _congrats, minnie!_ ”

“and do you know what i’m doing? i’m a dog sitter for some friends of my parents. they have a golden retriever puppy, soonyoung, a _puppy_ ,” seokmin told him excitedly and laughed when he heard a shriek from the other side. “anyways, i thought this would be an amazing date idea. you know, walking the dog, playing with him in the park and such.”

“ _you had me at date,_ ” soonyoung immediately confirmed. “ _i’m free on friday._ ”

“i’m always free for you, but friday it is. meet me at four in front of my house.”

 

///

 

seokmin could see from afar that soonyoung had taken extra consideration into his looks that day. he wore a white button down and black skinny jeans that had seokmin gulping.

they greeted each other with a hug and seokmin pecked soonyoung’s nose before he blushed furiously. but before soonyoung could say anything though, let alone reciprocate the action, the golden retriever barked loudly, obviously not satisfied with the lack of attention he was getting.

soonyoung crouched down to pet the little animal, a smile stretching around his lips when the puppy pressed his head against his head and started barking even louder and his tail waggled excitedly.

they took turns in holding the leash as they made their way to the park where they’d let the dog play with other ones of his kind end be able to have some alone time.

“did i tell you that you look good today?” soonyoung said suddenly, looking at seokmin with what he could only describe heart eyes.

seokmin shook his had shyly and bit his lip in order to stop himself from blushing too much. soonyoung laced their fingers together and they grinned at each other, no words needed in that moment. they forgot everything around them and they were in their own little world. that was until the puppy suddenly started to run off when he saw other dogs in the park.

soonyoung, too taken aback to do anything, lost control over the leash and it slipped out of his hand. seokmin yelped and tried running after the dog, but the golden retriever was a bundle of energy and it was near impossible to catch him. they’d just have to wait until he’d get tired of playing around.

“i feel like the world is against us,” seokmin said pouting and sat down on a bench. he watched the golden retriever play with a pug puppy and sighed.

“hey, don’t say that,” soonyoung said softly. “i know, our dates haven’t been... good so far, but don’t worry, we’ll find a way.”

seokmin just huffed and leaned in soonyoung’s side before he got an idea. “how about we have a movie night the next time. we still need to watch that thriller movie i am too young for.”

the elder’s face lit up and he broke out into a toothy grin. “you’re a genius, minnie.”

 

\+ i.)

seokmin went to soonyoung’s brand new apartment. he had packed a couple things he’d need for a sleepover in a bag which he was transporting on his bike. soonyoung greeted him with a smile, and he looked unbearably soft in his hoodie and sweat pants and with his hair unmade, so it fell into his eyes. seokmin was glad they had decided onto something non-fancy and he hadn't dressed up either.

they made themselves comfortable on soonyoung’s bed, cuddled against each other even though the bed could easily fit two boys of their size. an illegal streaming site was opened on soonyoung’s laptop, playing the thriller movie.

seokmin was kind of glad they didn’t get to watch it in the cinema. like this, he could just hide his face in soonyoung’s shoulder without feeling bad about it and he could take his hand whenever he sensed a scary scene coming up.

sure, their first dates had been more or less a disaster, but the fact that they had led to this made it more bearable for both of them.

the end credits rolled and seokmin propped himself up on his elbows, gazing into soonyoung’s eyes. he leaned down to kiss him properly for the first time.

and oh yes, the wait had definitely been worth it.

 

september, 2018

**Author's Note:**

> this was kinda short but oh well
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/nvventeen) | [tumblr](https://jnwonu.tumblr.com/) | [carrd](https://aboutklara.carrd.co/)


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